Volume 3, Issue 1 March 1, 2016 Page 1 Upper Paxton Township, Dauphin County 506 Berrysburg Road, Millersburg, PA 17061 Phone: (717) 692-4655 Fax: (717) 692-7031 Email: lzimm.upt@comcast.net Website: upperpaxtontwp.org Introduction: Unlike our Federal Government that operates with an ever increasing indebtedness and our State Government that struggles to adopt a budget, the Township Supervisors are pleased to report that our 2016 Budget is in place with no tax increase. Upper Paxton Township faces challenges as all local governments do, but we look to the future with optimism. The Township Supervisors, through this newsletter, wish to share an overview of our finances and actions that are planned for 2016 and even a little about our 2017 Semiquincentennial. We trust that with the limited space available, the information in this newsletter will provide our residents with a better understanding of what is happening in Upper Paxton Township Government. Financial Overview 2016 Budget: The Township adopted a balanced budget with both Revenues and Expenditures in the amount of $864,500. The budget may be amended as the status of grant funding, a building project and the extent of winter damage to our roads become known. A review of the Reserve Account article below will show that adequate funding is available to address these needs. Upper Paxton Township has no debts. Reserve Accounts: When the Dauphin Meadows Landfill was active, the fees paid by the landfill to the Township were placed into Reserve Accounts. These accounts accumulated interest and at one point they exceeded $800,000. Over the past several years the Supervisors have dedicated a significant amount of time to studying the road, equipment and administrative needs of the Township. Their conclusion is that a portion of the reserve funds should be used to help meet current pressing needs. Our Township has not had a tax increase for many years, yet the cost of providing local government services continues to increase. The price tag for replacement of equipment continues to inflate, and road maintenance and paving costs continue to rise. The Supervisors conclude that using a limited portion of these reserve funds will help to hold the line on taxes. We can only delay replacing vital equipment and catching up our road repairs for so long. Our equipment maintenance program is good, and township road repairs are now guided by our detailed analysis where all roads have been scored on the basis of their condition and use. Another possible use of a portion of the reserve funds is for the construction of a new township building or renovation of our current office building. Code violations, fire concerns and health and safety issues with our existing administrative office mandate that corrective action must be taken. (See Township Building Article.) (Continued on page 2)
Taxes: The 2016 budget does not include any tax increase for the upcoming year. When the Real Estate Taxes are increased, some taxpayers assume that the Township is a party to the increase. In most cases, that is not so. Take a moment to study your tax bills when they arrive in February and July. You will see that the only Real Estate Tax that comes to the Township is the Fire Tax. Of this amount, 97% is forwarded to the Millersburg/Upper Paxton Fire Department for fire protection. Township Administration Building This past fall, the Township submitted a grant proposal to the Dauphin County Local Share Municipal Grant Program, requesting a $250,000 grant. The monies would be used to replace the current township office facility and remedy the numerous deficiencies that exist with the current building. It was at the Township bicentennial in 1967 that the present office, then an old house, was dedicated for use as the center of Township activities. The grant proposal cites many issues with the present office that create undesirable working conditions and severely limit the Township s efficiency. The current office does not meet fire and panic codes, handicapped regulations and adequate security for both the employees and Township documents. Mold issues, faulty electrical wiring and an unsafe well, were cited in the proposal, along with the fact the building fails as an adequate public meeting place in many ways. If you have recently voted at the Township, you realize that the garage is used for voting and some large meetings. This requires down time for the Township employees, as they cease their outside duties to clean the garage and transform it into a meeting/voting room. Any public meeting, with an anticipated attendance of more than eight, needs to be moved, due to occupancy guidelines. The Supervisors agree that if they do not receive the grant funding, or if the amount is slashed, plans for a new building may need to be modified. In any event, some corrective action will need to be taken. They stress that taxes will not be affected to provide the Township with a new multipurpose office facility. Some money has already been set aside into a future building fund. The Supervisors will learn about the County response in March. If the results are good, then further planning will be completed in the spring and early summer with hopes of breaking ground in late summer or fall. The county grant remains a key to seeing the vision turned into reality. 2 Chelton Avenue Delay The Chelton Avenue sinkhole that resulted from a storm sewer collapse has been repaired to allow for the safe flow of storm water. Millersburg Borough has submitted an application for federal funding to replace the storm water system upstream from Chelton Avenue. Prior to the collapse, the Borough s project was going to terminate at State Street. Due to the poor condition of the storm sewer above and below the point of collapse, this portion has been added to the grant application. The project remains locked into the red tape associated with required clearances and permits necessary to replace the underground waterway. The paving and reopening of the road will be on hold until the project begins this spring or summer. The Supervisors regret the delay, but feel that with the potential for an additional collapse, it is not wise to open the roadway until the project is complete and proper paving is in place. Had the project not become an issue, the repair work would have been completed in a timely manner. The positive side of this delay, is that the remainder of the storm sewer replacement will be federally funded, saving the Township over $100,000.
Road Maintenance & Construction Overview: A great majority of the Township s budget is directly or indirectly related to road construction and maintenance. Developing and managing a cost efficient road program is a difficult task. Every road is different than every other road in the Township. The depth of the road base, type of sub soil under the base, the water table and drainage, the materials used to construct the road, the freeze/thaw cycles, the type and volume of traffic and many other conditions impact how rapidly and where a road will deteriorate. A one size fits all management tool does not work. We completed an analysis of every road in the Township, all 50 miles of them. Each year, our road maintenance staff and the Supervisors prioritize what roads can be patched, repaved or reconstructed within the funds available for that year. Funding must also be appropriated for the winter maintenance activities such as snow plowing, salting and cindering. A portion of the money you pay in taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase comes back to the Township and must be used for road maintenance, construction and equipment. In 2016 the Township is scheduled to receive $218,527 from this Liquid Fuels Fund. This may sound like a large amount but it is not. Last year the Township spent over $400,000 on road improvement projects. 2015 Road Improvement Projects were as follows: Reconstructed Roads: Etzweiler Road, Green Street Bituminous Resurfacing: Water Company Road, Riverview Drive, Schoolhouse Lane Patching on portions of: Isle of Q Road, Grange Hall Road, Summers Road Sealcoating: 7 th Street, Schoolhouse Lane, Power Co. Road, Miller Road Culvert Replacement: Summers Road Paxton Drive and Snyder Mill Roads are at the top of the 2016 road priorities list. Other projects will be selected after the impact of winter damage can be assessed. Township Welcome Signs Welcome to UPPER PAXTON TOWNSHIP BIRTHPLACE OF UPPER DAUPHIN COUNTY ESTABLISHED 1767 TWENTY-ONE MUNICIPALITIES IN UPPER DAUPHIN COUNTY FIND THEIR ROOTS IN UPPER PAXTON TOWNSHIP FROM 1787 THROUGH 1893 COURTESY (YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE) We "invite" businesses and families to sponsor one of our new signs to be placed at the major entrances to Upper Paxton Township. Those who contribute $200 will have a separate sponsor's sign placed below the sign at one of the locations. We encourage you to show your pride in our picturesque township by agreeing to become part of this program. Send your check to the Township Building and we will respond to you with the available locations for your sponsorship. There are a limited number of locations, so act early. The signs will be erected in 2016, in preparation for our Semiquincentenial. 3
Dirt & Gravel Roads We get many questions about our dirt and gravel roads. One of the most common questions is, when are you going to pave my road? The challenge is that we have about 11 miles of dirt and gravel roads. The cost of paving one mile of road with asphalt paving would be about $80,000 and for a tar and chip paving about $20,000. In the past several years, we have paved approximately one mile of road that was not previously paved. A portion of this new paving was completed to help eliminate a hazardous winter ice problem. As we work to stretch the available funding over our entire 50 miles of roads, it is difficult to find the funding to pave additional dirt and gravel roads. The Township will continue to seek grants from the State Dirt & Gravel Road Program for roads that qualify under their guidelines. Equipment Replacement The Township has a rather large fleet of road maintenance equipment; 4 trucks, a grader, a backhoe, and a loader are our largest pieces of equipment. The replacement value of these major pieces of equipment is $950,000. The average age of these 7 pieces of equipment is 13+ years with two of the most expensive pieces being over 20 years old. Our road crew does an exceptional job of maintaining and repairing this equipment, however, replacement must be planned for. Annually as part of our budgeting process, we have encumbered funds for equipment replacement. Our analysis shows that to replace the five oldest pieces of equipment within ten years, over $75,000 will be needed annually. Community Services Electronic Recycling: The Township plans to continue to work in cooperation with Dauphin County to provide for the recycling of electronics from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon on the second Saturday of each month. This recycling is for any resident of Dauphin County. There is no charge for recycling of computers, televisions and other electronics. Compost Center: The Township provides the Compost Center on Isle of Q Road for the use of Township residents only. The Township pays over $3,000 annually to have the composted material processed and removed. Many residents have expressed appreciation for a place to take their leaves and brush and we plan to continue this service to our residents. Whenever possible, please keep your brush separated from your leaves and grass. As you drive into the site and bear left, brush should be unloaded to the right and grass and leaves to your left. Spring Clean-up Day: Our annual Township spring clean-up day is scheduled for April 9, 2016 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Township Building. Guidelines are as follows: must be a Township Resident, no contractors, businesses, commercial users or dump truck loads. Unacceptable items are: burn barrels, household weekly trash, paint, motor oil, propane tanks, chemicals, liquid waste, antifreeze, ammunition, explosives, demolition waste, yard waste and household hazardous waste. Examples of bulk items accepted are metal, electronics, furniture, appliances and gas grills. A disposal fee will be charged for tires. 4
Update of Zoning Regulations and Subdivision & Land Development Regulations The Supervisors have begun the process of reviewing and updating both the Zoning Ordinances and the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances. No major changes are envisioned. The updates are needed to resolve conflicts within the Ordinances, clarify gray areas, and provide clarification of some areas where regulations are vague or missing and to bring our ordinances up to current standards. If you have had an issue with an existing ordinance, please bring it to our attention with adequate detail so we can review the concern and make appropriate corrective action if needed. 1767-2017 DID YOU KNOW SEMI + QUIN + CENTENNIAL = SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL This is a word we do not often see, but is a soon to be a familiar phrase here in Upper Paxton Township. In 2017 our picturesque municipality will celebrate her 250th birthday, her Semiquincentennial! History shows that Upper Paxton Township is the mother township to most of the current townships and boroughs in our region. We share the news of this upcoming milestone to solicit your ideas for a modest celebration during the summer of 2017. It is not the intent of the Supervisors to spend taxpayer dollars for a celebration, but we do want to entertain your ideas for some form of recognition for our unique municipality. It you have any ideas, or would like to serve on a Semiquincentennial Planning Committee, please contact the Township Office. We plan to have an initial meeting soon. Bob Stoner, Supervisor, will chair the planning committee, and at that initial meeting provide a brief overview of the events of the Bicentennial weekend of 1967. This will lead us into a sharing of ideas and open up discussions for our upcoming celebration. Upper Paxton Township is much more than a picturesque plot of land surrounded by mountain ranges and the Susquehanna River. It is people, an ever changing population of resourceful, community minded neighbors. It is you who we encourage to join with us in planning, and become part of the unique tapestry of our history as we look to remember the past, celebrate the present, and dream about our future. 5
(Pictured from left to right: Supervisor Orr, Faye Deibler, Supervisor Hepner, and Supervisor Stoner) Woodmen of the World Presents Township with American Flag At the June 24, 2015 Workshop Meeting, Faye Deibler, representing the Woodmen of the World organization, presented Upper Paxton Township with a flag to be flown in the front of the Township Municipal Office Building. The Supervisors wish to thank Deibler and her organization. Upper Paxton Township 506 Berrysburg Road Millersburg, PA 17061